Shocks
by anongurl
Summary: A new menace, I mean medstudent, comes to the ER and causes Abby and Susan to switch bodies. Carby.
1. Initial Shocks

Chapter 1

Summary: Set in season 9. Abby and Carter are together, but this isn't based around them. A new med-student starts in the ER and wreaks havoc. She causes something to happen to Abby and Susan.

AN: This is my first ER fanfic. Yay! Please read and let me know what you think. The next chapter should be us ASAP.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Good morning," Abby said, brightly to Susan as she walked into the lounge, Carter close behind her. "I thought you were off today?"

            Susan offered a half-smile, "I'm not, supposed to be, that is. Weaver called this morning. Apparently Chen called in sick. She had better be on her death bed, or she's gonna die when I see her." Susan yawned and winced slightly, holding a hand up to her head.

Abby laughed. "Well, you knew she was sick, or she would have come out with us last night. It shouldn't surprise you that she's still sick this morning."

Susan simply sighed and then rolled her eyes, but grimaced as pain shot through her head.

"Do you want me to get you an aspirin?" Abby asked.

Susan shook her head. "I've already had four this morning."

"It's only 7 o'clock," Carter said. "Isn't that a little to much?"

Susan rolled her eyes. "Thank-you for your concern, _doctor_," she said, sarcastically. She paused. "Actually I took the first two with a glass of water and threw up. I had to take the second two dry."

Carter laughed. "Yeah, Abby said you had a little too much fun last night."

Susan blushed slightly. "I can't remember half of the night. I remember arriving, and I remember Chuni and her friend showing up, and the next thing I remember is waking up to the phone ringing this morning."

Abby laughed. "Yeah, you were totally gone last night. You started singing with the music and we had to stop you from climbing up on the table to dance."

Susan blushed a deeper shade of crimson red. "I can't believe I got that drunk," she said, shaking her head. "One question," she said.

"What?" Abby asked.

"Did you, uh, did you change my clothes last night?"

Abby laughed. "No, you were still conscious enough to do that by yourself, although I have to say, interesting choice in PJ's. I sent you into your bedroom to get changed and that's what you came out in."

Susan blushed bright red at this. "Oh, God. So you actually saw me in that?"

"What were you wearing?" Carter asked. Abby had left this part of the story out.

Abby nodded, ignoring Carter's question, as did Susan. "You looked good, Sus, but I have to say, you're really not my type."

Susan laughed. "I woke up in it this morning and was like, what the hell? A boyfriend bought it for me years ago. I almost killed him when I opened it, but I could never get rid of it. I've been keeping it in the back of my closet for years."

"What was it?" Carter repeated, intrigued.

"Never mind, Carter," Susan said. "Just girl stuff."

"But…"

"We should get to work before Weaver kills us." Susan said, cutting him off. She quickly walked out the door, leaving Carter and Abby alone.

"She looks like hell," Carter said.

Abby nodded, yawning. "You try coming to work with 4 hours sleep and a killer hangover."

Carter laughed as he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Abby's waist. "Well, you should be tired. You didn't get home until after three last night."

Abby nodded, wrapping her arms lightly around Carter's neck. She yawned. "I am tired, but I had to make sure she got in okay."

Carter nodded. "From what you told me, she definitely needed help. Oh, and one question."

"Hmm?" Abby asked, her head resting against his chest. 

"What was Susan wearing this morning?"

Abby smiled against his chest. She leaned up on her tiptoes, as if to whisper a secret in his ear. Carter leaned down and tilted his head so that she had access to his ear. Abby opened her mouth, "It's a secret," she whispered.

"Hey," Carter said. "That was-" He was cut off as Abby pecked him on the lips, slipped out of his arms and headed out the door.

"I'll get you back for this," Carter called out, as the door swung shut behind her. He rolled his eyes and laughed slightly. "I should have seen that coming," he muttered to himself, before pulling his stethoscope around his neck and closing his locker. 

            He headed out the door and joined the usual gang at the admin desk. "Why are we all hanging out here?" He asked.

"Slow day," Hallie answered. "No patients in triage and no trauma's have been called in yet. Got a couple patients waiting for labs to come back, but nothing serious."

"And we're sitting here, doing nothing because..?"

"Because, Weaver got off an hour ago."

"Oh, okay," Carter said, claiming a seat along the desk beside Abby. "Where's Susan?"

"She crashed in the on call room. Told us to wake her if it picked up."

Carter opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the hasty approach of a young woman. She half-walked, half-ran towards the desk. When she was only feet away, she opened her mouth as if to say something, but that something never left her mouth. She tripped, seemingly over her own feet, and fell flat on her face.

At once, most of the gang behind the desk were on their feet, but the strange woman was immediately back on her feet. "Ohmygosh," she stuttered. "I'm so embarrassed. You see, I was late and was hurrying…"

Carter raised a hand to cease her talking and glanced down. He smirked. "Let me guess, you were in too much of a hurry to tie your shoelaces?"

The woman blushed and nodded. 

"So, what was it you were late for?"

"I'm supposed to be starting here today. I'm a doctor, well I not a _doctor_, but I'm gonna be. I mean, I'm planning to be one, I'm still a student. A med-student, my shifts start today, at 8, but I was late and …"

Carter raised his hand again, becoming increasingly scared by this woman. _A med-student_? "Are you Julie Smart?"

She nodded.

"And you're here for your first ER rotation?"

Again, she nodded.

"Well, I assure you that you are not late."

"But I was told to be here by eight O'clock."

Carter nodded. "Yes, eight O'clock tomorrow morning."

"T-tomorrow?"

Carter nodded.

"Oh, now I'm even more embarrassed. How could I have come on the wrong day? Oh gosh, you must think I'm a complete idiot. Oh, gosh! How could I be so stupid. Can I ask you a favor?"

            "Sure," Carter said.

            "Can you not tell doctor…" she trailed off as she glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand, "Carter, Can you not tell Dr. Carter about this. I was told to report to him, cause he's the chief resident and I really don't want to start on a note like this."

            Carter laughed. "Well, I hate to tell you this, but I'm Dr. Carter."

            Julie Smart went a brighter shade of red than Carter thought was humanly possible. She looked like she was going to die. He took a quick glance behind him, his expression asking for help with dealing with the woman, but all he got were smirks. He glared at them and turned back to his new med-student. 

            "You know what, since you're here, why don't you stay and get an idea for what life's like around here. It'll give you a head start."

            "Really! That would be awesome. Thank-you so much."

            "Follow me and I'll show you where you can keep your stuff for the day."

                                    *                      *                      *                      *

            Two hours later, it hadn't picked up too much. They hadn't had a trauma yet, and only a handful of patients waiting in triage. Abby sat next to Jerry at the admin desk. They watched the future Dr. Smart push an empty gurney down the hall, and crash it into a shelf of gowns.

            "Oh my Gosh!" Julie yelled out. She turned to Abby and Jerry. "It's okay. I have everything under control. Don't worry." She crouched down, and began picking up gowns and blankets that had fallen. She stuffed them back onto the shelf and continued down the hallway, before running back to the gurney she had forgotten and taking it with her.

            Abby shook her head. "That woman is a menace."

            Jerry laughed. "And to think, that is the future of medicine."

            Abby joined his laughing. 

            Carter walked by. "What's so funny?"

            "Your new med-student."

            Carter sighed. "What has she done now? I only left her alone for 5 minutes. I've been following her all day, afraid to let her out of my sight."

            Abby laughed. "She crashed a gurney." Then at Carter's look, "don't worry, it was empty."    

"Oh, good. I've afraid to leave alone with a patient all morning." He was cut off by a crashing sound down the hall. "I better go see what happened."

For the next hour, Julie Smart continued her day under Dr. Carter's very watchful eye. She was aware that she was coming off as a klutz, but she couldn't help it. She got clumsy when she was nervous. A trauma had come in, and Dr. Carter had been called away to help. He had told her to check up on the patients she had worked on so far; a boy with a possible broken arm, an allergic reaction and a woman with a sore stomach waiting for a surgical consult. Despite her making an ass out of herself that morning, Julie was having a good time. It was her first time on rotation and working with any patients. She had been allowed to administer a shot of benadryl to the allergy woman and do an ultrasound on the other. She was on a high off of helping and wasn't sure what to do. All of her patients were doing fine, and she knew Dr. Carter was still in the trauma room. She didn't want to interrupt. After getting turned around only once she found her way to the admin desk. 

"Um, Hallie, I was wondering what to do. My patients are fine and Dr. Carter's still working on the trauma."

The women at the desk looked up. "Uh, it's Abby, actually."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm really bad with names."

"That's fine, it happens a lot." Abby hesitated, usually she would send the student into the trauma to observe, but was worried to send this particular student in. If she could wreak that much havoc in an empty hallway, imagine what she could cause in a trauma room? "Uh, why don't you go check this patient," Abby said, handing over a chart. "Patient fell down the stairs. May have fractured her ankle. If you think it could be broken, call x-ray."

"Okay," Julie said, taking the chart. "Thank-you." She headed off to her right.

"The patient's in exam 3," Abby shouted. "It's the other way."

"Oh, right, thanks."

"Your welcome," Abby called after her, rolling eyes.

Julie wandered the halls, looking for exam 3. She didn't want to go back to the desk to ask for help, so she continued searching for it. She passed a room she hadn't seen yet and looked through the window. Inside she saw a stark white sheet on a gurney, covering a body. Julie went to leave, but paused. She had never seen a dead body, and was curious. Plus, she didn't know how she would react to seeing one the first time. She wanted to be prepared for anything. She really didn't want to make a fool of herself again. 

Julie looked around and when she saw no one watching her, slipped quietly in the door. She placed her chart down on the small table at the side of the room, not pausing the wonder why it was there. She stood beside the figure for a few moments, preparing herself. She then carefully slid the cover back, revealing the patients face. 

Julie tilted her head slightly. It wasn't what she had expected at all. The woman on the table, with medium length blonde hair and a pretty face, didn't look like anything she would have thought a dead person would look like. She looked…asleep. She wasn't pale and she wasn't blue. 

After brief hesitation, Julie reached out to touch the women's face. Her brow furrowed. Dead bodies were supposed to be cold, but this one was warm. "I wonder," Julie, muttered quietly to herself as she reached her hand over to feel for a pulse. She couldn't find one, but she kept moving her fingers around, feeling harder. Suddenly the woman's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly.

"What they hell are you doing?" Susan asked, incredulously at the figure in front of her.

"I-I-I I'm sooo sorry. I-I thought you were dead. And I've never seen a dead body before and I thought it would be okay…I'm so sorry," with that, the woman took off, leaving Susan alone. 

"What the hell was that?" Susan asked out loud, her hand on her chest. Waking up to hands around your neck was not on her list of most fun things to do.

Susan glanced at her watch; it was almost noon. She groaned and swung her legs over the side of the gurney. She got up and staggered the first few steps towards the door. Abby met her coming the other way. 

"What happened?" Abby asked.

"Someone woke me up." Susan said. "She had her hands on my neck, said she thought I was dead. Scared the crap out of me."

Abby sighed. "Let me guess, curly brown hair, tall?"

Susan nodded.

"That's Julie Smart, Carter's new med-student. Started this morning. Actually, she was supposed to start tomorrow morning, but got mixed up and came early. She's quite the klutz. I saw her run by the admin desk and into the bathroom, but I wanted to make sure she didn't kill anyone before I went to see if she was okay."

"She's Carter's student?"

Abby nodded.

"And where is Carter?"

"Trauma 2."

Susan smiled. "Thank-you, I have to go have a little chat with him."

Abby laughed. "Be gentle. It's not his fault. He's been following her all day, but got called to another trauma."

"I'll keep that in mind," Susan said, as she headed down the hall towards trauma 2.

Carter stepped out of the trauma room, a smile on his face. They had gotten the patient stabilized. This was why he was a doctor, to help people. His smile slid off his face as he spotted Susan heading down the hall towards him. She didn't look happy.

"Susan," he said.

"Carter," she said. "I have a bone to pick with you."

                        *                      *                      *                      *

It took Abby the better part of half an hour to get Julie to stop crying and calmed down. She apologized to Susan and soon went on as if nothing had happened.

They were quickly getting busier, and Susan went from patient to patient, Julie Smart flanking her the whole time. After much begging, she had agreed to take Julie off of Carter's hands for one hour. She was about to have Julie present her a patient when she heard her name called. 

"Dr. Lewis!" She looked over to see Chuni in the doorway of one of the rooms. "We need you in here!"

Susan quickly took off towards the door, Julie behind her.

"We lost his pulse," Abby said, she and Chuni were preparing the patient for shocking.

"O-kay," Susan said. She turned to Julie. "You ever shock a patient before?"

Julie shook her head.

"Charge to 300," Susan called to Abby, on the other side of the gurney. She turned back to Julie. "Well, there's no time like the present."

"Oh, no, that's okay…" Julie tried to say.

"Don't worry," Susan assured. "I'll walk you through it." She positioned Julie, with the paddles in her hand. "Hold the paddles firmly in place." 

Julie was shaking slightly and Abby leaned over to adjust the angle of the paddle on the patient's chest. Susan did the same for the other hand. "Now, you're going to press firmly on the buttons, but before you do, always say clear-" Julie didn't wait for the rest of Susan's sentence. She instinctively pressed the buttons, sending electricity into the patients chest, but also into both Abby and Susan, who still touching the patient. Both of them were sent flying backwards onto the floor. 


	2. A Different Kind Of Shock

            Abby groaned as she opened her eyes. Her whole body hurt. Chuni's worried face came into focus above her own. Abby suddenly remembered what had happened. She struggled to sit up, but Chuni put out a hand. "Don't worry about the patient, we got his pulse back." Abby nodded, and took a deep breath. She sat up and took another breath. The "fuzzy" pain throughout her body was beginning to decrease. She glanced across the floor, looking for Susan. 

            Chuni seemed to understand. "They needed help with a trauma. She didn't get as bad a shock as you, got right back up."

            Abby nodded. "How long was I out?" She shook her head, her voice sounded funny.

            "Only a minute or two. What's the matter?" Chuni asked, noticing her shaking head.

            "Nothing, my voice just sounds funny, that's all."

            "Well, it sounds normal to me," Chuni offered with a smile.

            Abby slowly dragged herself up, onto her feet. "Where did Julie go?"

            "Ran out after you two fell."

            Abby rolled her eyes. "I better go make sure she's okay."

            Abby staggered out the door, still shaking her head. She felt weird, almost as if she wasn't really there. She found her way to the bathroom, and when she entered, she heard crying in one of the stalls. 'Great,' she thought to herself. 'And this is the second time today I have to cheer her up in the bathroom.'

            "Julie?" Abby called out. "Are you okay?"

            "Y-yeah. I'm fine."

            "Can you come out for a second?"

            The door opened and a teary eyed Julie stepped out. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I shouldn't be here. I don't think I can handle this."

            Abby tilted her head slightly, he heart went out to the girl; she remembered what it was like to feel new and out of place. "Don't worry about it. It's happened before, and we're both fine. And it'll get easier, everyone feels out of place at first."

            "Really?"

            Abby nodded.

            Julie wiped her eyes dry. "Thanks, Susan."

            "It's Abby, actually, and your welcome. Now lets get back out there, okay?"

            Julie nodded, following her. "I'm sorry. I'm really bad with names."

            "That's okay."

                                                *                      *                      *                      *

            Susan found herself on top of a gurney giving CPR, while the patient was rushed into Trauma 1. Carter was running along beside her, calling out orders. Once inside the trauma room, she hopped off and continued CPR. She lost track of time as she worked along side Carter and a handful off others. 

            "Someone page surgery," She called out.

            "Corday's on her way," a voice called only seconds later.

            "We lost his pulse, we have to shock him," Carter called out. "Charge to 300."

            Susan stepped quickly away from the gurney, then to Carter's look, "I've already been shocked by that damned med-student of yours today. I don't need it to happen again."

            Carter grabbed the paddles. "She did what?" He placed the paddles on the patient's chest. "Clear!"

            "It was her first time shocking a patient and she didn't say clear."

            "Still no pulse," someone called.

            "I'm here," Elizabeth called as she entered the room.

            "Charge to 360," Carter called. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Clear!" He called again.

            "We have a pulse."       

Susan nodded. "I'm fine. Just got knocked back. It hurt like a bitch though."

"As long as you're okay," Carter said.

"He's stabilized."

"Okay, Elizabeth, he's all yours," Carter said. "Possible liver lac, probable ruptured spleen…"

Susan sighed as the door swung shut after the patient on his way up to surgery. She and Carter were left alone.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Carter asked, concern etched across his face.

Susan laughed. "I'm fine. Why?"

Carter shook his head. "You just look funny."

"Thanks," she said, sarcastically. "I feel…weird."

Carter stepped forward, and put his finger up to Susan's neck, feeling for a pulse. "How's your breathing," he asked.

Susan laughed, and pulled Carter's hand off her neck. "Stop being a doctor. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup," Susan said, nodding. "I just feel…different."

"Different how?" 

"I just feel…" Susan looked up at Carter. "Have you gotten taller?"

"I- what?" Carter asked.

"You look tall. I feel shorter."

Carter smirked. "Well, no offense, but you are kinda short."

Susan stepped back, a shocked expression on her face. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"Well, it's true," Carter smirked.

"It is not! I am not short!"

Carter laughed and stepped forward, his hands reaching towards her. "You are a little."

"I am not," Susan said, still laughing, but stopped suddenly when she felt Carter's hands on her waist. "What are you doing?"

Carter smiled down at her, and reached up with one hand to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "What do you mean?" He asked, leaning in, but before is lips reached hers he felt a sharp slap on his cheek.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Susan shouted at him. "I can't believe you would do this, especially to Abby!"

"I- what?" Carter asked, his hand on his red cheek. "What do you mean to Abby? What's wrong with you?"

Susan stepped backwards. "What do you mean what's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? I thought you were a good guy." With that she stormed out of the trauma room.

Carter stood in shock for a few moments. "What the hell is going on?" He muttered to himself. He shook his head, he would give her time to cool off before he tried to talk to her. She was obviously in a mood. 'Probably her time of the month,' he thought, before walking out of the trauma room, in search of his med-student. His hour was up, and he knew Susan wouldn't keep charge of her any longer.

                        *                      *                      *                      *

"Aahhhrrrgg," Susan growled as she stormed down the hall. "You think you know a person," she muttered. She entered the bathroom and was relieved to find it empty. "I hate men!" She yelled. "What the hell am I supposed to tell Abby?" She asked herself. "Uh, Abby, your boyfriend came onto me," she said sarcastically to herself. She sighed. Why couldn't life ever be simple? 

However, life was a lot less simple than she thought. Susan sighed again and walked over to the sink. She turned on the tap and wet her hands before running them over her face. She turned off the tap, looked up, into the mirror and screamed.

AN: Thank-you to everyone who has read this far. And thank-you so much to everyone who has reviewed. Has anyone figured out what is going on yet? Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter, next one up soon.   


	3. More Shocks

AN: Sorry about the delay, but my computer wasn't working and I had some parts replaced, and then couldn't get back onto the internet through the network. Sometimes I hate technology. lol. Anyway I hope you enjoy. On a more personal note, this is dedicated to two of my close friends and their families who are both going through a really hard time.     

Susan stood in front of the mirror in horror as Abby's face stared back at her. She was hallucinating, she had to be. 

            "Abby, are you okay?" Chuni's voice called from the door.

            Susan spun around. "What?"

            "Are you okay? I thought I heard a scream."

            Chuni called her Abby. 'Oh God, this isn't happening,' Susan muttered. "I'm fine. I-I didn't scream." 

            "Okay," Chuni gave her a second look before leaving. "Are you sure you're okay?"

            Susan nodded. "I'm fine."

            "Okay, as long as you're sure." And with that, Chuni was gone.

            Susan turned back to the mirror. This wasn't happening. It couldn't, but suddenly things were making sense; Carter trying to kiss her, suddenly feeling shorter, and her voice had sounded funny since. That was it! They must have switched bodies when they were both shocked. She had to find Abby, uh, Susan, uh Abby. How was she going to explain this? Susan took a breath before turning and walking out of the bathroom.

                                                *                      *                      *                      *

            Abby was ready for her lunch break and went in search of Carter. She spotted him down the hallway, and made her way towards him. 

            "Hey," she called out. "Do you wanna go grab a bite to eat?"

            Carter gave her a smile. "Thanks, but not today, I need to talk to Abby. Have you seen her anywhere?"

            Abby laughed. "Is this a game?" She asked.

            Carter gave her a weird look. "What do you mean?"

            Abby laughed again. "Wow, you're really good at this. You should have been an actor."

            "I have no idea what you're talking about, oh, there she is," he said, looking past her.

            Abby glanced behind her, confused by Carter's actions. She gasped at what she saw. **_She_ **was approaching herself. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times. _What the hell was going on?_ She watched her own form motion not to say anything.

            "Abby," Carter said. "I've been looking for you. Do you have time to get some lunch?"

            "Uh, not right now," Susan said. She was having trouble dealing with watching her own body staring at her in shock, and talking to the boyfriend of the person she knew was inside the body. 

            "Abby, I-we need to talk about earlier. I don't know why you were upset, but."

            "Never mind about earlier," Susan said. "Forget about it. It was my fault. I'll explain later."

            Carter opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off. 

            "I'll talk to you later," Susan repeated. "Right now I really need to talk to Ab.uh, Susan. I need to talk to Susan." With that Susan grabbed Abby and dragged her down the hall to the bathroom.

            Once inside Abby turned to Susan. "What to hell is going on? And who are you?"

            "I'm Susan and I have no idea what's going on. We must have switched bodies or something."

            "Switched bodies? Come on, that doesn't happen in real life. Who are you really?"

            "If you believe that, then turn around and take a look in the mirror."

            "What?"

            Susan grabbed her shoulders and turned he so she was looking in the mirror. Abby gasped. 

            "Now do you believe me?"

            Abby nodded slightly as she started into the mirror in shock. She put a hand up to her face. "How did this happen?"

            Susan shook her head. "I'm not sure, but I'm thinking it happened when we got that shock earlier, when we were still touching the patient."

            Abby nodded. "That makes sense." She turned to Susan, "what are we gonna do?"

            Susan shook her head. "I have no idea."

            "It's a dream. It has to be. This doesn't happen in real life."

            "I don't think it's a dream, Abby. It seems pretty real to me."

            Abby sighed. "Okay, we have to fix this. How are we gonna do that?"

            "I guess we could try getting shocked again," Susan offered.

            Abby nodded. "I guess we could try that."

            "Okay, we'll wait until it dies down a bit and we'll sneak into a trauma room and get our bodies back."

            Abby nodded. "Sounds good. But what do we do until then?"

            Susan shrugged. "Go on as if everything is normal."

            Abby gave her a look. "How are we supposed to do that, well how am I supposed to do that?"

            "What do you mean?"

            "Well, you being a nurse for a couple hours isn't that big of a deal, but I can't pretend to be an attending. I could kill someone!"

            "Good point," Susan said thoughtfully. "We could tell someone? They could help."

            "Susan, if we go up and tell someone that we switched bodies, we'll be up in the psych ward before you can say 'crazy'." 

            "Another good point," Susan said. "We'll just be careful. You just have to stay away from any trauma's that come in, and I'll try to stay near you."

            "Okay, I guess we don't have any other choice."

            "We could offer to chaperone Julie. Then Carter would have to take all the trauma's," Susan said.

            Abby nodded. "Good idea. I guess I'll go offer."

                                                *                      *                      *                      *

            Abby rolled her eyes as she went from patient to patient, Julie tailing her all the way. Carter had been greatly thankful when she had offered to take on Julie for the rest of the day. So far she had spent two hours trying to sound like she knew what she was talking about to Julie, with Susan falling not to far behind, confirming her orders. So far Abby had been right about all of her orders. It was funny to her that she was in charge of teaching this student when she only had one more year of med-school than Julie did.

            Abby was actually beginning to have fun being a doctor. Susan, on the other hand, hadn't realized just what nurses really did. She had been asked to do a sponge bath on a homeless man, and had trouble finding the simplest objects, such as suture trays and extra sheets. She kept apologizing to Abby, knowing Kerry was probably going to have a talk with her in the future. 

            It was a quiet afternoon, and at 2, Susan and Abby decided it was now or never, they were going to sneak into trauma three, and get their bodies back. They agreed to meet in five minutes and sent Julie on a nice long break. 

            Abby headed to the lounge to get a bottle of water before meeting Susan. She found Carter going over a chart. 

            "Hey," he said, looking up when she entered. "How are you feeling?"

            "Fine, why?" Abby asked.

            Carter gave her a questioning look, "cause you were a little hung over this morning."

            "Oh, right, well I'm feeling a lot better. I guess I just forgot about earlier. Alcohol kills brain cells you know." She laughed nervously. 

            Carter tilted his head slightly. "Are you sure you're okay? You're acting funny."

            "I'm fine," Abby said, a little too loudly. She had to get it together. Carter was her biggest weakness, he always seemed to know when something was wrong, and he always seemed to figure out what it was.

            "O-kay," Carter answered, still unsure. "If you're sure, but if you need to talk to someone, about anything, you know I'm here."

            Abby smiled. "Thanks, I'll let.uh, I'll be sure to remember that." With that she marched over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

            "You know Abby'll kill you if she finds out you stole a bottle of her water."

            Abby cringed. She hadn't even thought about this."Oh, Abby said I could have a bottle."

            "Even though you have some of your own left in the fridge?"

            Abby glanced in the still open fridge. Sure enough there were three full bottles with Susan's name marked clearly on the side with black marker. Damn Susan for being so neurotic, she thought. "Right, well my water.went bad. It's been in there for a while."

            Carter looked unconvinced. "I wasn't aware water went bad," he said, somewhat sarcastically.

            "Well, it does, okay?" Abby said, a little too strongly then she had meant to. 

            Carter held up his hands in mock defeat. "Sorry," he said.

            Abby sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I've just had a really long day."

            "I know the feeling, he what did you do with my med-student?"

            "Sent her on an extended lunch break."

            Carter laughed. "Good."

            Abby couldn't resist. "So, what's making your day seem so long?" She asked. "Loads and loads of paperwork?"

            Carter shook his head, "I wish."

            "Then what?"

            Carter sighed. "It's Abby."

            Abby cringed, slightly. This could be a very interesting conversation.

            "Has she talked to you at all?"

            Abby shook her head. "What do you mean?"

            "Something happened this morning, I don't really know what. She seemed really.off, or something. She wouldn't tell me what was wrong and she took off. I only saw her again that one other time and she won't talk to me."

            Abby wasn't sure what to say, but Carter continued.

            "All I did was touch her. She said she felt short and I told her she was short, jokingly of course. We were joking around, and then she seemed to get really mad and took off. I just wish she'd tell me what was wrong. She likes to keep things to herself, she doesn't like to be a burden, but I really do want to be there for her. She'd never be a burden."

            Abby felt a blush rise in her cheeks. She had to get out of there. "Look, I'll talk to her, okay? I'll see if I can get her to tell me what's wrong."

            "Thanks, Susan." Carter said, looking right at her. He seemed to pause, staring straight into her eyes.

            Abby got uncomfortable. "What?"

            After a moment, Carter seemed to snap out of his trance. "Uh, nothing, sorry, guess I'm just tired. You just .looked different for a second."

            Abby smiled to herself. He had no idea. "I gotta go meet Su.uh, Abby. I'll talk to you later."

            Abby checked to make sure no one was watching before she snuck into trauma three. Susan was already there, covering all the windows.

            "It looks like we're just gonna have to hope no one opens the door, I forgot there's no lock on the door."

            Abby nodded in agreement. "We've been pretty slow today, unless there's a trauma, no one should come in."

            "Good, cause that would be a really hard thing to explain," Susan said, laughing. 

            Abby laughed too, nodding her head. "Hey, quick question. What happened between you and Carter this morning?"

            Susan blushed. "Well, it was before I knew that I was you, you know? He came on to me."

            Abby laughed. "And you yelled at him?"

            Susan nodded. "And I, uh, slapped him," she added, quietly.

            "You slapped him!"

            Susan nodded, blushing a deeper shade of red. "I thought he was coming on to me. I was mad at him."

            Abby laughed. "And how am I going to explain this to him when he brings it up?"

            Susan shrugged. "Let me know when you figure it out."

            "Hey, you need to help me come up with an excuse," Abby said, helping Susan prepare the paddles.

            "Give me one good reason."

            "Cause this is your fault."

            "Hey, I was standing up for you, I didn't know he thought I was you."

            "Not just that, it's your fault we switched bodies."

            "No it's not, it's that crazy Smart girl's fault."

            "Who you agreed to take from Carter."

            "You are not turning this one me," Susan said, laughing.

            "Well, it's not my fault." Abby said, also laughing.

            "Let's discuss this later. Right now I want my body back."

            "Agreed."

            "So, how do you want to do this?" Susan asked.

            "Set it low, hold hands and each shock ourselves?" Abby suggested.

            Susan nodded in agreement. "Sounds good." She charged the paddles. "You ready?" She asked, spreading jell on the paddles.

            Abby nodded, nervously. She took one of the paddles, and proceeded to hold it against her arm, just like Susan. "On three?" she asked.

            Susan nodded. "One."

            "Two," Abby said. 

            "Three!" Both said, pressing the paddles.

            Abby felt a jolt shoot through her arm and body, throwing her backwards. She managed to stay on her feet. She counted to three and opened her eyes, to see her own face staring back at her.

            "Damn it!" Abby shouted.

            "I guess it didn't work," Susan stated. 

            "You guess?" Abby asked sarcastically.

            "Now what do we do?"

            "I don't know. We could try setting the paddles higher. When Julie shocked the patient, they were set for three hundred."

            Susan winced. "I see what you're saying, but that's really strong."

            Abby nodded in agreement. "We could lay a tray on top of a gurney and hold onto the railing."

            "Okay, but this had better work." Susan said, charging the paddles to three hundred.

            "I agree." Abby said, fetching a tray and preparing it on the bed.

            Susan handed her a paddle. "You ready?"

            Abby nodded, wrapping her fingers tightly around the railing, and laying the paddle on the tray. Susan did the same.

            "One."

            "Two."

            "Three!" They shouted together, pressing the paddles, unaware of the door to the trauma room being opened. They were also unaware of the shocked expression on the surprised doctor's face as they were both thrown backwards towards the floor.

AN: I didn't want to put this at the top, but just incase you didn't get it at first, I'm referring to Abby and Susan as themselves, not their body, so Abby is Abby in Susan's body. Does that make sense to anyone? Did the chapter make sense? I hope so. Next chappie will be up as soon as I write it. Thanx for reading.


	4. A shock for Carter

Chapter 4

AN: Sorry about the delay, blame it on a slight mental block. Lol. But I think I'm back on track. One thing to note, this story is set basically in the time zone of season 9, Abby and Carter are dating (and assume they are living together) And if characters who don't exist till season 10 show up, I'm sorry, but I'm still not exactly sure where this is heading and who knows what my mind will come up with. Ha ha. Anyway, enjoy!  

            Carter yawned as he walked towards the fridge, grabbing a bottle of Abby's water. He smirked; if she realized there were now two bottles missing he would just blame Susan. He lifted his arm up, and pulled back his sleeve, glancing at his watch in hopes that his shift was almost over. He was surprised when he found his arm to be bare.

            "Huh," he muttered, thinking back. He couldn't think of any suspicious patients who could have managed it off his wrist without his knowing, cause god knows that had happened to him enough. He opened his locker, in hopes he had taken it off that morning. He placed the bottle of water down on the top shelf and sifted through the mess of objects in a heap at the bottom of his locker; a fresh pair of clothes in case he got thrown-up on, spat on, bled on, peed on, etc, his runners, an old text book, and last weeks lunch that he never got around to eating. "Wow, I should really throw this out," he said to himself, lifting up the grocery bag of food. He was afraid to look into it, and simply dropped it into the garbage.

            He closed his locker and traveled out towards the admin desk. He began sifting through the multiple piles of paper, forms and charts sitting, many in haphazardly high piles, on the desk. 

            "Hey!" Jerry called from his seat by the computer, no doubt playing solitaire. "What do you think you're doing?"

            "I'm looking for my watch, have you seen it?" Carter asked, as he continued riffling through piles. 

            "No, and would you stop moving things, you're making a mess."

            "This place is a mess, how can I make it any worse?"

            "We have a system, and you're making a mess of it."

            "Fine, fine, I'll stop." Carter said, holding his hands up. "It's not here anyway."

            "Did you take it off in your trauma this morning?"

            "Yes! Thank-you. It has to be there."

            Carter turned and walked quickly down the hall towards trauma three. He noticed that all of the curtains were closed, but it didn't click in that this was not a natural occurrence. Without slowing, he pushed open the door just in time to see Susan and Abby, both with paddles in their hand, shocking a tray on a gurney they were both holding on to. Before he could say anything, they pressed the paddles and were both thrown backwards, onto the floor.

            "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Carter yelled out. 

            He saw Abby immediately jump to her feet. "Hi Carter," she said meekly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "What's up?"

            "What's up?" Carter asked, incredulously. "How can you ask me that? What are you doing? Are two trying to kill yourselves?"

            "No, of course not." Abby said. "We were just…well it's a long story." She glanced at Susan who was now on her feet.

            "A long story? Well, you better start explaining, cause I can't think of any reason why you would be alone in a trauma room, trying to shock yourselves!"

            "John," Susan said, softly. "Just calm down. There's a very good explanation for this."

            Since when did Susan call him John? Carter thought, but brushed it off quickly.

            "You can't tell him," Abby hissed at her.

            "Yes, we can." Susan said, her eyes on Carter.

            "Do you wanna end up in the psych ward?"

            "He wouldn't do that."

            "Fine, whatever," Abby shouted at Susan. "If I'm gonna be stuck in your body for the rest of my life, I might as well be in the psych ward. Who knows, maybe I am crazy."

            "What are you talking about?" Carter finally cut in.

            "Okay, if we tell you this, you have to promise to hear us out, and you can't tell anyone."

            "Okay." Carter said, calming down, Susan sounded really serious.

            "There was an accident this morning. Susan and I were working with your med-student and there was an incident with the crash cart and we both got shocked. And it seems we switched bodies."

            Carter had been concerned at first, but Susan's last sentence had thrown him. "You what?"

            "We switched bodies," Susan said.

            Carter opened his mouth a few times, not sure of what to say. "Is this some kind of joke?" He finally asked.

            Both Abby and Susan shook their heads. 

            "You don't really expect me to believe this, do you?"

            "See? I told you we shouldn't have told anyone," Abby said to Susan, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.. "I wouldn't believe it if someone told me they had switched bodies with someone else."

            Susan ignored her, walking closer to Carter. "You told me I could tell you anything, and that you would never doubt me," she said. "I know it's hard to believe, John, but it's true. We switched bodies and we were trying to switch back."

            "So, you're telling me that you," he said, motioning at Susan, "are Abby, and you are Susan," he said, motioning at Abby.

            Both nodded. 

            He shook his head. He had to be dreaming, why else would they be telling him this.

            "Ask me a question," Susan said, suddenly. "Something only I…uh, Abby would know."

            "Like what?"

            "Anything."

            "Fine, how do I take my coffee?"

            "Cream, two sugars."

            "Okay, anyone here knows that. What's my favorite movie?"

            "Independence Day, but that's another stupid question. Here, let me just talk. You're favorite ice cream flavor is mint chip, when you were nine, you fell down a flight of stairs and you have a scar on the back of you're head. You're shoe size is 11, you claim you're favorite meal is Fettuccini Alfredo, but it's actually burgers and fries, when you were little you wanted to be an astronaut."

            Carter still appeared unconvinced.

            "You sleep on the right side of the bed, when we got out of the hospital after the small pox scare you called me a tornado, after calling me chaos in general."

            Carter looked surprised, and a little embarrassed, but seemed to be starting to entertain the thought that they might be telling the truth.

            "You still have your childhood teddy bear, Zeddy, beside your bed, you take long showers in the morning, and even though you won't admit it, you use my shampoo more than you use yours. When you were a teenager, you decided to go for a new look and got a p…"

            "Stop! I believe you." Carter exclaimed, cutting her off. "I believe you," he repeated.

(AN: I hate to interrupt, but now that Carter believes them, I'm going to go back to calling Abby and Susan who they really are, not whp they look like to Carter)

            "What did you get?" Susan asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

            "Never mind," Carter said.

            "Oh, come on, you can't not tell me."

            "Watch me."

            "You're so mean."

            "Fine, you wanna tell me what you were wearing this morning?"

            "You know what? I don't need to know what you got when you were a teenager." Susan immediately said.

            "Okay, so you two are in each other's bodies."

            "Give the boy a prize," Susan said, sarcastically, "He figured it out." 

            Carter stared at her for a few seconds, still amazed at the forward, sarcastic character coming from Abby's usually quiet, protective form. "Shut up, Susan," he finally said. "Hey," he said suddenly. "That's why you slapped me."

            "Oh, right, sorry about that. I hadn't realized we had switched yet, and I thought you were coming on to me, like the real me, and I was mad at you."

            "That really hurt."

            "Have you never been slapped before?"

            Carter shook his head. "I've never had any reason to be."

            Susan said nothing, only huffing slightly to herself. 

            Before anyone could say anymore, Chuni walked in, a stack of suture kits in her hands. "Hey, guys, what are you doing? Kerry's not here today, you don't have to hide." She continued, jokingly.

            "We're looking for my watch," Carter said quickly. "I thought I might have left it in here after that trauma this morning."

            "You mean the one sitting over there on the shelf?" Chuni asked, motioning towards it.

            Carter glanced over at it and nodded. "Yes, there it is. Thank-you, Chuni. We've been looking for a while, and haven't been able to find it." 

            "You obviously haven't been looking very hard," Chuni added, placing the kits on the shelf and tossing Carter his watch.

            "Thanks," Carter said, as he caught it with ease. He glanced at the time, almost 2:30. All three of them were off in the next hour and a half and made plans to meet at a coffee house down the road at four o'clock. It would give them a more private place to talk. There were to many prying ears at the hospital, as well as too many people with the power to send them to the psych ward should words of their talk reach the wrong ears.

                                    *                      *                      *                      *                      *

            Just after four, Carter entered the coffeehouse, quickly spotting Abby and Susan's forms sitting a small booth in the back corner of the restaurant. Susan had been scheduled to cover the shift change, but Carter had opted to take it, so as not to risk Abby having to take on something she couldn't handle should a trauma come in. Susan could no longer follow her around as Abby was scheduled off before the shift change.

            He made his way to the booth, hesitating before taking a seat beside Abby. He watched Susan's features form a small smile at his hesitation, and his decision. She slid a cup of coffee towards him. 

            "We went ahead and ordered for you."

            "Thanks," Carter said, accepting it, and opting to wrap his cold hands around the warm cup for the time being. "So, tell me the whole story."

            "We were helping _your_ med-student and she didn't say clear before she pressed the buttons on the paddles. We were both touching the patient and we felt the shock." Susan said, fighting to keep a lock of hair out of her face. "Haleh came and said a trauma had come in. I ran out to help."

            "I got knocked out for a few seconds, and came to after Susan left. I didn't realize I wasn't me until Susan came and dragged me away from you in the hall to the bathroom. We decided to try to switch back by shocking ourselves again, but it obviously didn't work." Abby finished.

              "Wow, I mean wow," Carter said. "This is really hard to believe. Like, this doesn't happen in real life."

            "You think?" Susan said. "This is by far the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me. It feels so weird. I can't get used to the sound of my voice, and I feel really short."

            "Hey!" Abby exclaimed. "I am not short."

            Susan and Carter turned to face Abby, neither one agreeing with her, nor having the courage to disprove her.

Carter raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Well, you're not short anymore." He said, laughingly. 

Abby glared at him and looked like she wanted to say something, but after a few moments of silence it was obvious she was could not think of anything to say. Instead, she simply huffed and pushed past Carter, mumbling something about needing to go to the bathroom. 

Carter and Susan watched her stalked off towards the bathroom, both laughing. The bathroom door had barely closed behind her when she came walking back out. 

Abby walked back over to the table, a blank look on her face. She took a seat, and said nothing, simply playing with the stir stick in her tea. 

"That was fast," Susan joked. "I hope you washed your hands," she said sarcastically.

Abby looked up, glaring at her, but said nothing. " I can't do it," she finally muttered.

"Can't do what?" Susan asked. 

"I can't go to the bathroom."

"Why not…OH! Because, you would… my body…oh this sucks." Susan said, realization dawning on her.

Both women were silent, but after a few moments of uncomfortable silence Carter began to laugh, both Susan and Abby turned to glare at him.

"I'm sorry, but it's really funny," Carter said. "Okay, maybe not that funny." They continued to glare. "Okay, it's not funny." He stopped laughing, covering his face with his hands to stop from laughing.

"What are we going to do?" Susan said, groaning. She knocked her head on the table a few times.

"Hey," Abby said. "I don't want to get my body back with a concussion."

Susan looked up at her, her hair falling back into her face. "Like that's something we have to worry about, we're never gonna get out bodies back." She went to tuck her hair behind her ears, but it fell back down again. "What is wrong with this Goddamn hair?!" She exclaimed. "It never stays where I want it to."

"Welcome to my world," Abby said.

Carter shrugged. "I think it's cute," he said. 

"Carter, you're not helping," Susan said. 

"Okay, it's not cute when you're being mean to me."

Susan chose to ignore him. "I want my body back!" She yelled, causing odd glances from a couple of tables near them.

"Keep your voice down," Abby told her. "We're trying to not attract attention."

"I'm sorry, but what are we going to do? Do you have any idea how to switch back?"

Abby shook her head.

"You could try seeing things from the other's perspective and practicing total unshelfishness," Carter offered.

Both women gave him a questioning look.

Carter continued. "Because that's what they had to do in the movie, where the mother and daughter switched bodies…not that I've seen it or anything." He trailed off.

"I guess it's worth a shot," Susan said. "So how do we do that?"

"I guess we switch lives for the time being."

Susan nodded. "I think I can handle that. How about we do that and then meet back here tomorrow morning?"

"Sure, are you on tomorrow?" Abby asked.

"Yeah, I got the night shift."

"Good, us to," Abby motioned at her and Carter.

They got up to leave, and walked out of the café.

"Well, I'll see you two tomorrow," Susan said, pulling her jacket around herself, preparing for the short walk over to the El. 

"Where are you going?" Abby called.

"Home."

"You can't go home."

"Why not?"

"Cause if we have to live each other's lives, then we can't live our own, you know?"

"Riiiight," Susan said, as realization dawned. "So that means I have to your home…with Carter."

Susan and Carter exchanged a look. 

Abby bit her lip lightly, and reached up to nervously twist a lock of hair in her fingers, only there was no hair straying for her to do so. "So, how do I get to your apartment?"

Susan gave her instructions; they exchanged keys and said their goodbyes, Carter and Susan walking awkwardly together towards the parking garage and Abby walking alone towards the El.

**_AN: So, how was it? Still making sense? I hope so. Also, I alluded to the movie 'Freaky Friday,' which I hadn't actually seen until I had already started this story, but just to say I do no own Freaky Friday. Next chappie up soon.  _** 


	5. Can't think of what to call this chapter...

Chapter 5

            After making only one wrong turn, Abby found herself staring up at Susan's familiar building. She had been here enough times, but had always gone with someone, even if it were Susan. She had never had to get herself there alone before. She made her way up the front steps, and reached for the keys that were in her pocket. She guessed at which key corresponded with the front door, and surprisingly, she guessed right. She entered the lobby and made her way to the stairs, making it up the three flights to Susan's apartment with ease. This time, however, she was not as lucky with her 'which key fits this lock' guessing. She went through all of the possibilities, and it was the last key on the chain that finally opened the door. 

            After entering the apartment and ensuring the door was locked securely behind her, a habit she now did when she was alone, Abby stood in the middle of the living room, not sure of what to do. She felt out of place and a little scared. This type of thing didn't happen in real life. _Was she ever going to get her body back?_ Abby shook her head, attempting to clear it of all her unspoken worries, and walked over to the window, pulling the blinds apart. A single ray of dim light penetrated the dully lit room, and Abby felt comfort in it, raising her hand to catch light, as if it were there to be captured and a held onto. Abby's expression changed to a sad smile as she flipped her hand over, expecting to see a twinkle on her finger, but did not. Her hand felt oddly light and naked. She quickly pulled her left hand into her right and brought them together under her chin and sighed, wondering how Carter and Susan were coping half-way across town. 

            Carter held the door open as motioned for Susan to enter ahead of him.

            "Thanks," Susan said. "Aren't you the gentleman?"

            Carter smiled. "I try."

            "Abby's a lucky girl," Susan responded.

            "You think so?"

            Susan smiled. "I know so. She seems really happy. She's changed since I first met her," Susan said, then raised her left hand. "And I must admit that I'm really not minding wearing this thing around."

            Carter smiled. "You realize you can't keep it when this is all over?"

            Susan pretended to be hurt. "That's so unfair. You can't make me give it back, I feel special wearing it." She said, mostly sarcastically, with just a hint of something else.

            Carter looked at her seriously. "It'll happen for you, Susan. Just give it time."

            Susan smiled. "I know, but I'm allowed to be jealous. You guys are so lucky. You're happy and you're always gonna be happy," she said motioning at the simple, yet elegant ring situated on the fourth finger of her left hand.

            Carter smiled. "That's the plan."

            "Do you think we should call her? Make sure she got back okay?" 

            Carter nodded. He went to grab the portable off its charger, hitting the button on the base when it wasn't there. A constant, loud beeping sound filled the room, and he followed it until he found the source to be hidden under a pillow on the couch. He held up the phone triumphantly, and tossed it to Susan.

            Susan laughed, as she caught it. "You guys are really organized over here," she stated, sarcasm evident in her voice. 

            Carter shrugged. "It works for us."

            Susan smiled and quickly typed in her number.

            Abby was jolted out of her thoughts at the sound of the phone. She quickly walked over to it and reached down the pick it up, but hesitated when her fingers met the cool surface. She knew there was a good chance of it being Carter and Susan, but she was afraid it would be someone else, like Chuck, and she would have to talk to them. Before she could make her decision, the incessant ringing stopped and the answering machine kicked in.

            **_Hello, you've reached Susan's. As you can tell, I'm not here. I'm probably at work, so leave your name and number. I'll call back as soon as I can, but it may be a while because I never seem to be away from the God forsaken hospital._**

****

            Abby allowed a small laugh at Susan's outgoing message.

            "Abby? If you're there pick up." Susan's voice filtered through the machine.

            Abby quickly picked up the phone. "Hey, sorry I didn't answer. I just didn't want it to be someone else, like Chuck."

            Susan laughed. "At least that's something we don't have to worry about. He's away for a couple more days, so he shouldn't be calling." 

            Abby laughed. "Yeah, that would be awkward."

            "Did you get in okay?"

            "Yup. I made one wrong turn, but still found the place."

            Susan laughed. "That's a good thing. Oh, Carter wants to talk to you. Here he is."

            "Hey," Carter's familiar voice filtered into the phone.

            "Hey."

            "You doing okay?" He asked, concern evident in his voice.

            "Yeah, I'm just a little worried."

            "Well, try not to worry too much. We'll get this sorted out. Just give it time, and try to act like Susan. Hopefully this'll work."

            Abby laughed. "I just want to wake up to find this a dream."

                                    *                                  *                                  *                                  *

            The next morning Carter woke up, uncomfortably on the couch. He grimaced as he tried to stretch, finding more than one crick in his back and neck. After spending a few seconds trying to remember the fight that had caused him to end up on the couch, Carter remembered the situation from the day before and groaned as he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the couch. He yawned and stood up, making his way over to the bedroom to get changed. He quietly stepped inside, averting his eyes from the sleeping figure in the bed and making his way to the closet. He grabbed a pair of pants and started searching for his favorite sweatshirt. It wasn't anywhere in his side of the closet or in his dresser. Suddenly he smiled, knowing where it was. He opened the second drawer of Abby's dresser and pulled out his shirt.

            "Figures," he muttered, stepping into the bathroom to have a shower.     

            Abby smiled as she sifted through Susan's closet, looking for something to wear for the night shift. 

            "Wow, Susan has some weird clothes," Abby muttered to herself, holding out a green and purple pin-striped t-shirt. "I should wear this just to embarrass her in the future," Abby said, smiling to herself. Earlier in the morning, she had met Carter and Susan for coffee, but no one had any new insights, so they had once again gone there separate ways.

            Through out the day, Abby had done her best to act like Susan, but in the end, she spent most of her time reading through the various medical texts she found on Susan's bookshelf. She wanted to be prepared in the event that she ended up alone with a patient.  

            Abby entered the hospital and made her way into the lounge, opening her locker before she realized what she had done. She winced, realizing she didn't even know Susan's locker combo. She shrugged before tossing all of her stuff into her locker and quickly closed the door when she heard the door open behind her. 

            "Oh, Susan, I'm glad to see you here early for your shift. It sets a good example for the other members of the staff. I'm off, but would you stitch up a patient in exam two?"

            "Sure," Abby said, heading out the door of the lounge. "Susan had better get here soon, or I'm gonna kill her," she muttered. "I'm making her look good to the boss, she had better do the same thing."

            Abby stepped into exam two, lifting the chart off the hook on the wall and heading over to the patient sitting on the gurney. She was a young girl, no older than ten, with her mother sitting beside her, holding her hand.

            "Hello, I'm A-Dr. Lewis," she started. 

            "Hi," the little girl said. Abby could tell she was nervous. 

            "What's your name?"

            "Sarah."

            "That's a pretty name. And what brings you here today?"

            "I hurt my knee."

            Abby smiled and glanced at the mother. 

            "She fell at the park, landed on a piece of glass." The mother said.

            "Oh, that musta hurt," Abby said, returning her attention to Sarah. "Can I have a look?"

            Sarah nodded.

            Abby smiled at her and pulled the bandage up, so have a look at the cut. 

            "Someone was already in to clean it, we're just waiting for stitches." The mother said.

            Abby nodded. "Okay, I think I can take care of that," she said, grabbing a suture kit from the shelf on the other side of the room and taking a seat beside Sarah's knee. She took a deep breath, hoping she could do this properly. She had been good at stitching when she was on rotation, but that was a long time ago. 

            "Okay, Sarah," Abby said, looking up. Sarah looked scared. She had tears forming in her eyes and was now holding her mothers hand with both of hers. Abby offered her a smile, feeling her maternal instincts kick in. "I promise this won't hurt, okay? I'm gonna put something on it, a special medicine, that will make it so you can't even feel the stitches at all." Abby pulled out a bottle of lidocaine and filled up a syringe, before administering the drug to the cut. "Is it hurting any less?"

            Sarah nodded.

            Abby smiled. "Good, okay I'm gonna get started. You might not want to watch."

            Sarah looked terrified. 

            "Think of it this way, when we're done, you'll have a really cool scar to show off to your friends." At this, Abby saw a small smile form on Sarah's face.

            Abby got to work, going very slowly at first, but quickly remembering the process. It only took a half dozen stitches to close the wound and before she knew it, she was covering it with a bandage.

            "Okay, we're all done."

            Sarah brought her head up from her mother's shoulder. "Really?"

            Abby nodded. "You bet. You were really brave."

            Sarah smiled. 

            Abby turned her attention to Sarah's mother. "Try to keep it covered and dry, and come back in about six to eight days to have the stitches removed."

            "Thank-you," the mother said. She turned to her daughter. "What do you say?"

            "Thank-you," Sarah said quietly. 

            "Any time," Abby said, looking up as she heard the door open.

            Carter and Susan arrived just in time to pass Kerry on her way out. 

            "Carter, Abby," she said, glancing at her watch. "Just a minute to spare. You should take a lesson from your coworkers."

            "What do you mean?" Carter asked. 

            "Dr. Lewis has been here for more then ten minutes and she's already in with a patient."

            "We'll try to get here sooner next time," Carter said.

            Kerry left and Susan quickly turned to Carter. "She's with a patient? We better go help."

            Susan opened the door to exam two, where she had found out Abby was working to see packing up a suture kit.

            "Hello, Dr. Lewis," she said carefully. "Do you need any help in here?"

            Abby shook her head. "Nope, we're all done."

            Susan and Abby stepped out of the room.

            "Did everything go okay?"

            Abby nodded. "Yup, I guess stitching is like riding a bike. It's something you never forget how to do."

            Susan laughed. "Interesting analogy, but very true."

            "Where's Carter?"

            "Meeting his new med students."

            "Right, I forgot they were coming today."

            "Even after what Julie caused to happen?"

            Abby laughed. "Well, when you put it that way…"

            At that moment, Carter appeared down the hall, three nervous med-students trailing behind him, one of them being Julie Smart. He offered a half smile when he saw them. He was good with his students, but was always stressed the first day of their rotation. 

            Carter stopped as he reached Abby and Susan. "This is Dr. Susan Lewis, she's an attending, and this is Abby Lockhart, head nurse." He said to his students. He turned to Susan and Abby. "These are our new med-students, Dr. Harty, Dr. Stuart and Dr. Smart, who you've already met."

            Both Dr. Harty and Dr. Stuart offered greetings, but Dr. Smart hardly acknowledged them, blushing and averting their eyes. Obviously she was still embarrassed. If Susan had been in her own body, she would have felt compelled to feel sorry for the young doctor, but at the moment she was stuck in another body, with no way of knowing how to get back into her own and without the ability to let anyone else know. Susan allowed herself a smirk. When she got her body back she would make Julie pay. She pictured lots of fecal impactions, oddly placed rashes and one screaming kid after another. Julie was going to get more than she bargained for in her ER rotation.

_AN: Sorry about the delay, but I have a bad case of writers block. I know where I want the story to go in the long term, but I'm having trouble getting them through the next day or so. I decided to end this chapter here, so you could see where the story is going and maybe leave some feedback. Hopefully I will recover from this writer's block and get back to writing. Thanks for reading.  _ 


	6. chapter 6

Chapter 6

Abby yawned as she stumbled into Susan's apartment, half asleep. It was close to noon and she had been at the hospital since the night before. They had been busy and she had barely gotten a chance to sit down, let alone catch a couple of hours of sleep. And she hadn't even slept well the night before. She had been worried and uncomfortable the entire night, not used to sleeping alone anymore.

She blindly found her way into the bathroom, too tired to think about the logistics of it. She blinked at the light and after she relieved herself, stepped in front of the sink to brush her teeth, her thoughts only on getting a couple hours of sleep. She closed her eyes as she went through the monotonous motion of brushing teeth. She didn't notice the movement behind her of the door swinging open. Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her.

Abby's eyes flew open and she screamed, dropping the toothbrush and immediately flailing to get away from her 'attacker.' She got in one good elbow and the man behind her immediately backed off.

"Hey, babe, relax," Abby spun to see Chuck standing in the doorway, his hand rubbing the spot on his stomach where her elbow had just been. "It's just me. I didn't mean to scare you." He smirked. "You might have a good elbow, but your nerves suck."

"I'm sorry. I just didn't expect you, and I've been jumpy ever since Br…" Abby trailed off.

"Ever since what?"

"Nothing," Abby said. "Never mind. I thought you weren't going to be home for another couple of days."

"I decided to come back early. I called, but you weren't home. I left a message."

"Oh, I, uh, guess I didn't check my messages yesterday." Abby said, silently cursing Susan under her breath for not telling her how to check her messages.

"So, are you happy to see me?" Chuck asked, giving her a puppy-dog face.

On the inside, Abby hesitated, unsure of the situation and how to handle Chuck. On the outside she presented a large smile. "Of course I'm glad to see you. Why wouldn't I be?"

Chuck shrugged. "You just seem…I don't know, kinda unhappy."

Abby struggled for an excuse. "I'm sorry. I really am happy to see you. I'm just really tired. I worked the night shift and just got home. I guess I really need to go to bed."

Chick raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Would you like some company?"

Abby felt her body tense. "Chuck…" she started.

Chuck smiled. "I know, I know, but a man can try right?"

Abby returned the smile. "Sure."

"Can I at least get a hug?"

Abby stepped forward, slowly wrapping her arms around Chuck's neck. She relaxed as his arms tightened around her waist. This wasn't too bad. After a moment she felt a kiss on her collarbone. "I love you," Chuck whispered.

"You too," Abby said back, after a moments hesitation, hoping this was the norm for Susan and Chuck.

Chuck pulled back from the hug, planting a second kiss on her forehead. "Get some rest. I have to go home and do some laundry and such. When are you working next?"

"Tonight."

"Two nights in a row?"

"I'm on nights all week."

"Okay, how about we do breakfast tomorrow morning? I'll meet you at work at 7?"

Abby nodded, agreeing to the date, not knowing what else to do. "That sounds great."

"Good. I'll see you then." Chuck headed for the door.

"Bye," Abby called after him.

"Bye," Chuck said, opening the front door. He blew her a kiss as he stepped out and closed the door behind him.

Abby allowed herself a relieved smile. She quickly locked the front door and went in search of the phone.

"You know, I'm actually starting to see why so many people like this show," Susan said from her spot on the couch. She was leaning against the arm, her legs sprawled out in front of her, with a bowl of popcorn on her lap.

Carter sighed from his position on the other side of the room, sitting up in the armchair. "I still hate it. Why are we watching it anyway?"

"Because you said we have to act like each other. Abby likes her reality shows, so I'm gonna watch them. I want my body back."

"Y'know I think this is Abby's only downfall," Carter said.

"What? That she watches reality television?"

Carter nodded.

Susan laughed. "Of all the things you two have gone through and this is the biggest problem you have with her. Wow, you really have it bad."

Carter smirked. "Well… she does have an interesting taste in music too."

Susan laughed and opened her mouth to respond when she was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing.

Carter jumped up and followed the noise right to the source- the charger. He shook his head as he picked it up. The phone hadn't been left here, unless it was completely dead, for months. Susan was just really neurotic about things going away. "You know, if you want to act like Abby, you have to stop putting the phone away."

Susan glared at him and stuck out her tongue.

Carter smiled before hitting the on button and lifting the phone to his ear. "Hello."

"Hey, its me." Susan's voice filtered through the phone. It took only milliseconds for his brain to realize that it was actually Abby.

"Hey Abbs, what's up?"

"We have a problem."

"What is it?" Carter's voice was immediately concerned.

"Chuck's home early."

"Uh oh."

"What's uh oh?" Susan asked, still on the couch.

"Chuck's back early."

Susan sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the couch. "Okay, that deserves an uh oh." She waited; trying to get what she could out of Carter's half of the conversation. He soon stopped talking into the phone and returned his attention to her.

"Abby said he was at your place when she got home. He left soon after, but made her agree to have breakfast with him tomorrow morning."

"At least we don't have to deal with him until tomorrow."

Carter nodded. "That's what Abby said." He returned his attention to the phone. "Well, there isn't much we can do about it right now. Get some sleep and we'll talk about it tonight… see you tomorrow… love you too…bye."

"This just got more complicated." Susan said.

"Think he'd believe us if we told him the truth?"

Susan shook her head. "I wish I knew."

Abby was jolted awake by the sound of the phone. She groaned and rolled over, squinting to make out the numbers on the clock across the room. _Five fifteen._ Abby groaned again and almost put her head back down, but was interrupted by a second ring. She rolled out of bed and grabbed the phone from the dresser.

"Hello?"

"Susan, is that you?"

Abby almost said no, but remembered her situation and answered with a hesitant "y-yes."

"Susan I'm sorry to call you now. I know you've only been off for a couple of hours but Chen came in today and is still really sick. We sent her home and have no one else to cover for her. I can't get a hold of Carter…"

Abby sighed inwardly, knowing where this was going. Damn Carter for not answering the phone. Damn herself for answering the phone. Damn Susan for not having call-waiting.

"…If you could come is ASAP I will tell Carter he's the main attending tonight and you can get more sleep."

"Yeah, give me about a half hour and I'll be in."

"Thanks Susan, I knew we could count on you," and with that Weaver hung up.

"Yeah, bye to you too," Abby muttered.

Half an hour later she stumbled in the sliding doors at Cook County General.

"Hey, Susan," Gerry called as she walked by the admin desk. "Chen says she's sorry you had to come in."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well she'll be sorrier later."

Gerry laughed. "At least we're not very busy," he said, passing a chart over the counter to Abby. Woman in 3. Little spacey. Found her wandering down the side of the highway. Psych hasn't had a chance to come down yet."

Abby accepted the chart. At least she knew she could handle a psych patient. "Thanks Gerry," she said, heading towards exam 3.

One very long shift later, a very tired Abby and somewhat less tired Carter and Susan finished their night shift and made their way out of the emergency room doors, thoughts only on getting some sleep.

"Hey Babe," Chuck's voice filtered through their foggy thoughts. All three turned their attention to the man standing outside the door. The man all three had forgotten was going to be there.

"Hi, Chuck," Abby said, attempting to present a believable smile. "You here for breakfast?"

Chuck returned the smile, a small questioning look behind it. "Of, course. You still up for it?"

Abby almost said no, but knew she couldn't keep putting him off. She nodded. "Yup, but I invited Carter and Abby to come with us. I hope that's okay."

Chuck nodded. "Of course it's okay. The more the merrier." He promptly placed an arm over Abby's shoulders and led her across the street to the small diner.

Abby did her best not to flinch when Chuck's arm landed on her shoulder. He must have felt her hesitation though, because he gave her a questioning look and began to withdraw his arm. Thinking quickly, Abby reached up and grabbed his hand with hers. She gave him the warmest smile she could. "Sorry," she said quietly. "I'm just a little tired."

Chuck was aware that Susan was acting funny, but didn't know how to bring it up with her friends around. He had met Carter and Abby on numerous occasions, but had never spent much time with them. It made him wonder why she had invited them. He hoped everything was okay between them. If it wasn't then his plans were sure ruined.

Everyone ordered as soon as the waiter arrived.

"I didn't know you liked pie," he said to Susan.

"Oh, I, uh, just felt like getting some today, that's all."

Susan seemed really nervous for some reason. He couldn't think of any reason for her to be nervous, he knew he was nervous. He was also uncomfortable under the stare coming from across the table.

Chuck leaned over to whisper in Susan ear. "Is it just me, or is Abby checking me out?"

Abby felt Chuck lean over and almost pulled away. She didn't feel comfortable around other men, especially in front of Carter. When she heard what he had to say her eyes snapped across the table. Sure enough, Susan, in her form, was staring at Chuck. One well-placed kick put a stop to that.

Susan felt a sudden, sharp pain on the shin of her left leg. "Ow!" She said, reaching a hand down. She saw the surprised look on Chuck's face and the pretend surprised look on her own face across the table. "Just a cramp," she said, glaring at Abby, who matched her glare. She realized what she had been doing. She had to fix it fast, or Chuck would think that Abby had a crush on him. And what Chuck didn't need was a bigger head. Thinking fast, she moved over, closing the inches between her and Carter and quickly closed her hand around his. There was an uncomfortable moment as Carter realized what she was doing and closed his grip on her hand. They did their best to look comfortable with each other.

Abby watched from across the table, wishing none of this had ever happened. She had no idea that only hours later she would rather be back in this situation.

**AN: So sorry for the really long delay. I had no idea that it had been this long. But, I have made the decision to buckle down and finish this story. Thank-you to everyone who has bugged me with e-mails and reviews all summer, it's because of you that this chapter is up now. Anyway, I have a fresh idea to go to next, so chapter 7 should be along shortly. I'm sorry if this one didn't completely make sense, but the next one should flow better. NCUS.**


	7. Chapter7

Chapter 7

Abby awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. She groaned and glanced over at the clock. It was almost 9 pm and she wasn't on until 12 She hesitated before answering it, incase it was Weaver again, but answered anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Babe." It was Chuck. "Sorry to wake you, but I thought you might want to get dinner before your shift tonight, my treat."

"Sure, I'd love to," Abby said, her sleep deprived brain unable to come up with an excuse not to go.

"Great, I'll pick you up in an hour?"

"See you then."

They said their goodbye's and Abby rolled out of bed. She had a nice long shower, with her eyes closed, and got dressed. She wasn't sure what kind of places Susan and Chuck went out for dinner, so she opted for a long skirt and simple blouse. She put on a small amount of make-up and pulled her hair back into a bun. She had to admit that it was nice being able to control her hair so easily. She glanced at the time as she was putting her watch on. Chuck would be there any minute. She put on her beeper, made sure her cell was in her purse and grabbed a jacket. There was a knock at the door.

Abby took a deep breath, willing herself to get through the evening. Chuck was a nice guy and she could pretend to be his girlfriend for an evening. She opened the door, a smile pasted on her face. She was not surprised to see Chuck standing there, but was surprised to see him in a suit, holding a dozen roses.

"Good evening," he said, handing her the flowers. "You look nice tonight."

"Thank-you, you look nice, too." There was an awkward pause. Chuck seemed nervous. "Come in," she said.

Chuck nodded and came through the door, placing a kiss on her cheek.

It only took Abby three guesses to find which cupboard Susan kept her vases in. Then they were on their way.

Chuck pulled into the parking lot of a small, upscale diner that Abby had never seen before. She pulled Susan's car in behind him. She wanted to comment on never knowing it was here, but was afraid that Susan had been here before. They were seated quickly, obviously Chuck had reservations. There was an ice bucket with a bottle of wine in the center of the table. Abby hesitated at the sight of it. She didn't want to drink any of it, but didn't know how she would explain that to him. A glass of wine to a normal adult shouldn't mean anything. She glanced at Chuck. He seemed nervous. Abby shrugged and sat down. Maybe he was always nervous on dates.

The waiter came over and poured them both a glass of wine.

"Cheers." Chuck said holding up his glass. Abby held hers up and clinked glasses with him. She hesitated as she brought the glass to her lips. She opted to simply pretend to take a sip and place the glass back down. Chuck, on the other hand, downed more than half of his glass in one gulp. To Abby's knowledge, he and Susan had been together for more than a year. He shouldn't be this nervous.

Chuck reached across the table and took her hand. "I love you," he said softly.

Abby allowed him to pull her hand towards him a few inches. She smiled. "You too."

Chuck smiled and looked down. He took a deep breath and looked up, right into her eyes. "I know things aren't always perfect, but…"

Abby froze, realization hitting her. He was going to propose. She recognized the symptoms from only a few months ago. She had to think fast. She was quickly preparing to simply jump up and run, when she got an idea. She jumped, letting go of Chuck's hand and grabbed at her waistband.

"Damn," she said, looking down at her blank beeper. "It's the hospital."

Chuck nodded, believing her excuse.

"Give me a minute." Abby grabbed her cell and stood near the door to have a quick, fake conversation with the hospital. She pretended to hang up and went back to the table. "I'm sorry, Chuck. They need me to go in."

Chuck nodded, looking both sad and relieved at the same time. "Call me when you're off?"

"Of course," Abby said, smiling. She placed a quick kiss on his cheek and headed out the door.

She parked the car and headed to the front door of the apartment complex. She typed in the familiar code and let herself in. She took the stairs two at a time and let herself in the door of her apartment. Susan and Carter looked up from the living room, surprised to see her.

"What's going on?"

"We have to tell Chuck."

"Why," Susan asked. "What happened?"

"N-nothing, we just have to tell him."

Neither looked convinced. "Carter, I need to talk to you," she said, grabbing Carter's hand and dragging him into the bathroom. She quickly locked to door and turned on the water so Susan couldn't hear.

"Chuck proposed," she blurted out.

"He what?"

"Well, he didn't actually propose. I jetted before he had a chance, but he was definitely going to."

"What, you just ran away?"

"No, I mean I was thinking about it, but I opted to pretend my beeper went off and that the hospital needed me."

Carter laughed. "Good thinking."

"Yeah, for now, but what do I do tomorrow?"

Carter shook his head. "We'll just have to figure out a way to tell him, or at least to keep away from him."

"This really sucks."

Carter laughed. "I know."

"At least you're in your own body."

Carter pulled her in for a hug. "I wish I could fix it."

"I know," Abby said, allowing Carter to comfort her. She felt like she hadn't been in his arms for weeks. Instinctively, she reached her head up for a kiss, but Carter stopped her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I know that it's you, but still…"

Abby nodded. "I understand." She sighed and buried her head in his chest for a few moments. She felt him place a quick kiss on the top of her head. She knew how hard he was trying. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like if he looked like someone else. She pulled away. "So, when do you guys want to leave for work?"

Work that night was very interesting. They had many minor traumas come in and had to contend with avoiding the work crews that were in the hallway, replacing lights.

Abby yawned as she grabbed her umpteenth chart from the rack and glanced at her watch. It was just after 5 in the morning. She stepped around the worker on the ladder to see Susan standing on the other side, holding the bottom of the ladder. She gave her a questioning look.

"They were short handed. Not many workers will take a night shift," Susan said. "I watched him almost tip the ladder twice, so I thought that I would save us one more trauma tonight if I held the bottom until he was done. He said he wouldn't be much longer. Apparently a circuit is crossed or something."

Abby laughed. "Well, have fun, I'm off to do your job."

She headed in the door, expecting to see a young boy on the bed, but instead saw only his mother, asleep in the chair beside the bed. Abby approached the woman. "Excuse me," she said, waking to woman. "Were you here with your sun?"

The woman nodded and glanced at the bed next to her.

"Do you know where he is?" Abby asked, already knowing the answer.

The woman shook her head. "No," she said beginning to panic. "I couldn't have fallen asleep for long…"

Abby offered a small smile. "Don't worry, we'll find him. This happens all the time."

"Thanks, I'll check the waiting room, he may have gone to the vending machines." With that the woman hurried out the door.

Abby stepped out the door. "Did you see a little boy leave this room alone?"

"No, but I haven't been here long. Ask Mr. Fix-it up there," she said pointing up the ladder. "How long does it take to replace a light," she whispered to Abby. Abby laughed.

She stepped onto the bottom wring of the ladder and took a few steps up, until she was level with the man's feet. She felt the ladder sway slightly and was immediately glad for Susan below her, holding it steady.

"Excuse me, Sir," she said, tapping the man on the back of his calf. "You didn't happen to see a small boy leave that room, did you?"

"Hold on a second," the man said. "I've almost got-"

He didn't even have time to curse as he realized he had crossed the wrong wire and was zapped and found himself falling off the top of the ladder.

Neither Abby nor Susan, who were both holding the metal ladder, knew anything was wrong until they felt a familiar zap run through their body's. Both were thrown backwards.


	8. shockingshe updated

CHAPTER 8

Abby groaned as she felt someone squeezing her hand, and feeling her neck for a pulse. The ground under her was hard, and she realized she was on the floor of a trauma room. She remembered being on the ladder, and then…well, here she was. She slowly opened her eyes to see Carter's worried face staring back at her. He helped her sit up.

"Are you okay?" He asked, worry evident in his voice.

Abby nodded slowly. "I think so." She glanced around her, looking for Susan and the worker, knowing they had been with her.

"Susan got called to a trauma," Carter offered, understanding what she was looking for. She was fine."

Abby nodded. "And the worker?"

Carter shook his head. "What worker?"

"The one on the ladder."

"What ladder?" He looked at her, concern now etched across his face.

"The- never mind," Abby shook her head and attempted to get up, off the floor.

She struggled slightly and Carter was immediately there to help her up, wrapping an arm around her waist to steady her.

"Thanks," Abby said with a smile. It was then that she noticed how much taller he was than her and she felt her heart jump. She subconsciously felt her left hand with her right and found the ring that she had been missing so much for the past few days. Her hand traveled up to her hair and she smiled. It was as unruly as ever.

Abby let out a small laugh. "I'm back!" She said excitedly.

Carter gave her a concerned glance. "Yeah, you are," he said, unsurely. "Although I wasn't really aware that you were gone."

Abby rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean it that way, I just meant, that I'm back in my own…" She trailed off at Carter's expression. Maybe she didn't need to keep talking. She glanced around the room. There was no way she could have landed in the trauma room from the ladder down the hall. She glanced at the patient on the gurney and recognized him from the day Julie Smart had shocked her and Susan. Well, that had been a weird dream. She turned back to Carter and smiled. "Never mind," she said happily. "How long was I out?"

Carter shook his head. "Not long, maybe two or three minutes. Pretty much I came down the hall to see the future Dr. not-so-Smart run out of the room in tears and come in the find Susan picking herself off the ground. She muttered something about incompetence and feeling like a baked potato, and then her beeper went off. You were only out for another minute or so."

"Huh," Abby said. "Seemed like longer."

Carter laughed. "Were you aware of being unconscious?" He asked, sarcastically.

Abby smacked him playfully across the chest. "No, I just had a really weird dream, which seemed to last a long time."

"Wanna tell me about it?"

Abby shook her head. "Nope." She said simply. She knew Carter loved her, but she also knew the psyc ward was only a phone call away, literally. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have a few things to do." And with that she planted a quick peck on Carters cheek and stepped out of the room.

Calming Julie Smart down, two traumas and a second almost run in with a certain new med later, Abby found her self in the lounge looking through the fridge for a water.

"Hey," she heard from across the room, and jumped. She turned to find Susan sprawled across the couch.

Abby laughed at her expression. "What happened to the on-call room?"

"They keep finding me in there."

Abby laughed. "Oh, well, just to let you know, the lounge, not really that inconspicuous."

"I know, I just came in here for some Tylenol and the couch looked so comfy…"

Abby nodded, knowingly. "Still paying for last night, huh?"

Susan glared at her. "It wasn't so bad until that damned med student shocked us. Now I have a headache times two."

Abby nodded. "I know the feeling, I've had a headache all afternoon. And I had the strangest dream."

Susan looked at her. "Me too. And it seemed so real."

"Really real, even though it was totally unrealistic."

"Totally unrealistic." Susan agreed.

"Wait," Abby said. "Are we talking about the same dream?"

Susan looked at her suspiciously. "Is that possible?"

Abby shrugged, "I'm not the doctor," she said, jokingly.

"So, in this dream, you and I kinda switched…"

"Bodies?"

Susan nodded. "And we both dreamt the same thing."

"You think it wasn't a dream?"

"What else could it have been?"

Abby shrugged. "Don't ask me. It's a little creepy."

Susan laughed. "It's a lot creepy."

"Let's make a deal."

"That we never speak of this again?" Susan asked.

"Exactly."

"Deal."

"Cause we don't need to end up in the psych ward."

"Definitely not."

"Why would you end up in the psych ward?" Both girls jumped to see Carter standing in the room.

"Why do you always come in at the most inappropriate times?" Abby asked.

"Yeah, do you ever knock?"

Carter was taken aback. "First off, I don't seem to remember walking in at any other time recently, second of all, this is a public room and I can come in when ever I want."

"Whatever, Carter."

"So, what was it that you were talking about?"

"Can't tell you," Susan said quickly.

He turned to Abby.

She shook her head. "Can't tell you either, we made a pact."

"But, we're getting married and we should tell each other everything."

Abby smiled mischievously. "Well, in that case, maybe I should tell Susan about you new hair style from when you were younger?"

Carter immediately held up a hand and shook his head. "Nope, that's quite alright. I don't need to know anything."

"Thought so," Abby said.

The door to the room swung open again and Halle's face poked in. She looked relieved to see Carter. "Carter, it that med student again. You need to come quickly."

Carter groaned and glanced at Abby. "You're not going to say anything to Susan, right?"

Abby smiled and nodded. "Of course not."

"Good," and with that Carter hurried out of the room in search of his student, all he had to do was follow the path of destruction.

Susan laughed. "How long do you think it's going to take him to realize I already know he got a perm?"

Abby shrugged. "Hopefully a long time, that we I can keep using it against him.


	9. Shocking ending epilogue

EPILOGUE

It was another slow day at the ER and thankfully to all, Dr. Weaver was not there. Most of the staff were sprawled around the admin desk. Carter was laughing at Abby's futile attempt to control her hair, and she was glaring at him. Susan was surrounded by a slew of nurses admiring the newly situated ring on her left hand. Luka was doing a quick round of the ER, flocked by none other then Julie Smart herself. His usual patient disposition was quickly being tested by the incessant questions and frequent stops he had to make while Julie picked one thing or another off the floor than she had knocked over.

He was almost relieved to hear the incessant beeping coming from the trauma room closest him, it gave him a chance to do something productive. Julie Smart followed him as he raced into the room and took a moment to study the monitor. He picked up the paddles and spread the gel while and Carter and Halle ran in behind him.

Carter took a spot on the opposite side of the gurney, beside his med student, and prepared the patient.

"Julie, have you ever shocked a patient before?" Luka asked.

Julie hesitated before nodding. She opened her mouth to say something, but Luka had already pushed the paddles into her hands.

"Oh, no, you see it really didn't go well the first time," she tried saying, but her hands were already being expertly led to the correct place on the patients chest.

"Just relax, and take a breath," Luka told her, his hand still resting the patient. Carter was readjusting the patient's arm.

But Julie couldn't wait. Her hands instinctively tightened on the handles, without her consent. She knew what was going to happen before it happened. Both doctor's were knocked backwards, right off their feet, and onto the floor."

"Clear," Julie said quietly to herself before dropping the paddles, letting out a sob and racing out of the room to the bathroom she had spent the better part of the week in.

**_AN: Well, that's it. Loved it, Hated it, feel indifferent, pleeze let me know if you got a sec. I hope you liked it. I'm really sorry about the substantial delays in writing this story, I checked my original post date and it's a year minus five days to today. Wow, that's a long time. Anyway, I want to thank-everyone who reviewed and kept me writing, the dominating, borderline threatening reviews are probably the ones that got me the finish it this soon. I would like to extend my thanks to Kitkatgurl, ("Hey, Kitkat!") who was pushier than anyone else, and got me to finish the story, even if she didn't carry out her half of the deal. Anyway, I know I left the ending up a little with the question of Luka and Carter switching bodies. It's safe to say I will not be continuing or adding a sequel but if someone out there wants to write it, send me an e-mail. Thanks again for all the reviews. Oh, and PS to Sqully, please don't kill yourself. Lol. _**


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